Hound Opinions

Hey y'all!  Bill's been fighting off some sort of plague - not covid - since last week and he just hasn't had the energy to get an episode together. He's really sorry and there'll be a new episode in two weeks. Thanks for being so understanding! 

Big Wags Chicago is on the web at www.bigwagschicago.com. You can also find Big Wags on Twitter and Instagram at @bigwagschicago. Have a question you want answered in a future episode or just want to say hi? Email [email protected].

Hound Opinions is taking a break this week. Enjoy this rebroadcast of the episode from Nov. 25, 2021 featuring listener questions. By the way, Bill's planning another episode like this, but he needs questions. Email 'em to [email protected].

On this edition of Hound Opinions, Bill takes a few questions from listeners. He talks about how to help your dog deal with loud noises like thunder. He also gets a little heavy (trigger warning: pet death) when he addresses a question about how to know you're ready to adopt another dog after your dog passes away. He also gets into the pros and cons (spoiler: mostly cons) of dogs being off-leash.

Big Wags Chicago is on the web at www.bigwagschicago.com. You can also find Big Wags on Twitter and Instagram at @bigwagschicago. Have a question you want answered in a future episode or just want to say hi? Email [email protected].

There's not a huge amount of research into the effects of CBD on dogs. But Dr. Jennifer Weiss and Jeremy Dedic have done their share. 

Jeremy and Jennifer are the minds behind Cubbington’s Cabinet – a Chicago-based purveyor of CBD products with the mission of improving the quality of life for people and pets by providing a trustworthy source for socially responsible, thoroughly tested and accurately labeled, hemp-derived CBD products. They sat down and chatted with Bill to hopefully demystify CBD a bit. 

By the way, Jeremy and Jennifer were so kind as to offer listeners a 15% discount off a purchase at Cubbingtons - either in-store at 2015 W. Roscoe in Chicago or online at cubbingtons.com - when you use the coupon code HoundOpinions15 through May 31. They're also on Instagram at @cubbingtonscabinet and Cubbington, their official ambassadog, is @cubbington2therescue. 

Big Wags Chicago is on the web at www.bigwagschicago.com. You can also find Big Wags on Twitter and Instagram at @bigwagschicago. Have a question you want answered in a future episode or just want to say hi? Email [email protected].

Dogs are great photo subjects. But they're also living creatures that like to move, which can make getting good photos of them hard. But you've come to the right place.

In this episode, Bill talks to Pulitzer prize winning photojournalist Scott Strazzante. He's been on the staff of the San Francisco Chronicle since 2014. His work has been featured in National Geographic and Mother Jones. And his book, Shooting from the Hip, a collection of iPhone Hipstamatic snaps from around the USA, was published in 2017.

Scott, who loves taking photos of dogs, talks about how to use your phone - that powerful little device everyone has in their pocket - to get the best photos possible of your fuzzy best friends. Check out his work at scottstrazzante.photoshelter.com or on Instagram at @ScottStrazzante. 

Big Wags Chicago is on the web at www.bigwagschicago.com. You can also find Big Wags on Twitter and Instagram at @bigwagschicago. Have a question you want answered in a future episode or just want to say hi? Email [email protected].

Most of y'all probably know David Frei as the voice of the National Dog Show and/or the Beverly Hills Dog Show. And he's both of those, but he's so much more. He's also the founder of Angel on a Leash, an organization that brings therapy dog and handler teams to visit anyone who might benefit from the special bond between a human and a dog. 

Big Wags Chicago is on the web at www.bigwagschicago.com. You can also find Big Wags on Twitter and Instagram at @bigwagschicago. Have a question you want answered in a future episode or just want to say hi? Email [email protected].

One of the toughest parts of being a positive reinforcement trainer is explaining to people why it’s more effective and what exactly it means. But Mandy Boutelle has figured out an unconventional way to do just that.

Mandy was a certified R+ dog walker and dog trainer before founding her clothing line, Woof Cultr. By putting the ideas and principles of R+ training on shirts and other items, it invites people to ask questions, which gives trainers the opportunity to have meaningful conversations about it. Woof Cultr can be found at woofcultr.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/woofcultr or on Instagram at @woofcultr. 

Big Wags Chicago is on the web at www.bigwagschicago.com. You can also find Big Wags on Twitter and Instagram at @bigwagschicago. Have a question you want answered in a future episode or just want to say hi? Email [email protected].

Welcome to Season 2 of Hound Opinons!

Bill's talked about service dogs before on the pod. And to kick off the second season, he's talking about 'em again!

This time, his guest is Joanne Moliski. Joanne is a 28 year old engineer and community organizer. She is a partially ambulatory quadriplegic who has uses her service dog, Scorpio, as her primary mobility support. Scorpio is 2-3 years old, half pit bull/half Pyrenees, and a very good boy.

Big Wags Chicago is on the web at www.bigwagschicago.com. You can also find Big Wags on Twitter and Instagram at @bigwagschicago. Have a question you want answered in a future episode or just want to say hi? Email [email protected].

It's the finale of Season 1 of Hound Opinions, folx! But don't worry; season 2 will start in just two weeks!

For the Season 1 finale, Bill has a really cool guest. Dan Schachner (@danschachner) is best known as the guy getting peed and pooped on every year as the referee of the Puppy Bowl! But he’s also an advocate for dog rescue and foster, as well as an ambassador for the Sato Project, which rescues abandoned dogs in Puerto Rico. Catch Puppy Bowl XVIII on Sunday, Feb. 13 at 1 p.m. Central time on Animal Planet and streaming on Discovery+. And check out the Sato Project at thesatoproject.org.

Big Wags Chicago is on the web at www.bigwagschicago.com. You can also find Big Wags on Twitter and Instagram at @bigwagschicago. Have a question you want answered in a future episode or just want to say hi? Email [email protected].

Hound Opinions is taking a quick break this week, but Bill will be back next week (January 27) with a new episode. In the meantime, enjoy this rebroadcast of the inaugural episode of Hound Opinions!

Flying with a dog can add a whole new set of complications to what is already often a stressful experience. But what if you want or need to travel with your dog? What's that like? How do you prepare your dog for it? How do you make the experience as easy as possible for yourself and your pup?

In the inaugural episode of Hound Opinions, I chat with Jenna Galowich (@jengalowich on Instagram) about her experience traveling internationally with her rescue dog, Charlie (@americandoginparis). Because Jenna splits her time between France and the United States, Charlie quickly became an international travel pro.

Big Wags Chicago is on the web at www.bigwagschicago.com. You can also find us on Twitter and Instagram at @bigwagschicago. Have a question you want answered in a future episode or just want to say hi? Email [email protected].